Senior Leadership Team
JEFF KEANE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Jeff Keane joined Noble in 2005 and has more than 35 years of management experience building brands and profitably growing companies. Keane began his career working for some of the best-known marketing and consumer product companies, including General Mills and Con Agra/National Foods, working on brands such as Betty Crocker and Hebrew National. Since 1995, Keane has served in executive roles at Playtex Family Products, Miami International, and Schrieffer & Somerset. Keane received a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts and an MBA from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
JOEL FUREY, FOUNDER & CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER
Joel Furey co-founded Noble Biomaterials in 1997. He has more than 25 years of commercial and operational management of high growth start-up and early stage organizations, such as export management company Pathways International, start-up toy manufacturing company Toy Vision, and gift food manufacturing specialist Pelican Bay Ltd. In just over 20 years, Furey has built Noble into a global leader of intelligent materials, supplying mission-critical products to healthcare, consumer, military, and aerospace companies. Furey graduated with a degree in Economics from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
TOM BROSS, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Tom Bross joined Noble in 2014 and has more than 17 years of corporate finance, accounting, operations and strategy consulting experience for global firms that span from Fortune 500 to early-stage technology startups. Bross began his career at The Boeing Company before moving into strategic planning and management consulting roles at KPMG, and Thomson Reuters. Bross received a bachelor’s degree in Finance from King’s College and an MBA from Villanova University.
STEVE MATTHEWS, EVP MANUFACTURING & OPERATIONS
Steve Matthews has more than 25 years of experience in operations and supply chain management, accelerating transformation using Agile, Lean and Six Sigma tools. Before joining Noble, Matthews was the Executive Vice President of Operations at chemical manufacturer and distributor Hawkins, Inc. Prior to Hawkins, he was a Regional General Manager in the Paperboard Converting Division of Newark Recycled Paperboard Solutions. Matthews spent a total of fifteen years during two different periods at General Electric in a variety of engineering, Six Sigma, supply chain and plant leadership positions in the Plastics, Aircraft Engines, Lighting and Water divisions. From 2005-2008, Matthews was a Corporate Global Supply Chain Engagement Leader with Ingersoll Rand, a global diversified industrial company. Matthews has a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA in Organizational Behavior from Case Western Reserve University.
Allon has 20 years of experience in marketing, sales, and business development. He recently held the Chief Marketing Officer position at Vibram Corporation launching Vibram Arctic Grip and continued the growth of Vibram Fivefingers footwear products. As Global Marketing Director at Polartec, Allon launched Polartec NeoShell and several Polartec franchise products while relaunching the brand globally in 2009. Prior to his component branding experience, Allon worked as marketing director at Vail Resorts and managed franchise marketing for Pennzoil/Quaker State. Allon has worked within several agency functions over his tenure and is now leading the brand, globally for Noble.
Bennett Fisher, SVP of Sales concentrating in Military, Healthcare, and Conductive markets, has more than 25 years of management experience in the textile and technical textile fields. In 2013, Fisher joined the Noble Biomaterials, Inc. team as General Manager and Director of the Conductive Fabrics business unit; his expertise in technical sales and marketing have aided in the growth of the company and Circuitex® brand. Prior to Noble, Fisher co-founded Carolina Silver in 2006, a company focused on technical textiles including conductive applications. In 2003, Fisher joined a team to create Carolina Silver Technologies, a start-up company providing fabrics to the healthcare field. Fisher began his career in textiles working for Carolina Mills, Inc in 1993. Fisher has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Appalachian State University.
Pierangelo Venturi, Senior Textile Engineer, Co-founder
Mr. Venturi spent most of his career in sock and hosiery manufacturing. He was the first managing director at the Italian synthetic spinning mill that makes polyamide 66 fine denier and introduced Noble Biomaterials and X-Static® to the European market. Recently, Mr Venturi was honored by the Italian Government with the title of “Cavaliere del Lavoro”.
Jodi Wallis, Vice President, Product Performance
Jodi joined Noble in 2014 and has 10 years of experience in project and program management, textile manufacturing and processes, fabric construction and design, antimicrobial testing, and product performance. Wallis oversees the commercialization process of new product development for both antimicrobial and conductive technologies. Jodi began her career at Noble in 2012 serving as a quality testing intern and was hired full time in 2014. Wallis has a Bachelor of Science degree in Textile Engineering from Philadelphia University/Thomas Jefferson.
Steve Milner, who has spent his career working in the European textile industry, is SVP of Sales for the EMEA region. Milner works with all consumer, healthcare, and military customers but specializes in Noble’s infection prevention fabrics and wound care materials. Prior to joining Noble Biomaterials Inc. in February 2008, Milner was Sales Director at Toray Industries, where he first encountered Noble Biomaterials. During his time at Toray, Milner was instrumental in the development and successful launch of the See it SAFE® brand, a range of antimicrobial textiles powered by X-STATIC®. Milner ran his own textile agency and converting companies for many years before joining Toray in 2005 and has also held managerial roles within Courtauld Group companies.
